High-priority research and development needs for maintaining the safety and mobility of older drivers

The increase in the number of older drivers has resulted, in the last two decades, in a series of conferences and workshops that have outlined the magnitude of the "older driver problem." More than 150 research and development recommendations generated by these conferences were rated by a task force of the Transportation Research Board in terms of their relative importance. On the basis of this rating, six major categories of high-priority research and development needs were identified: highway design, vehicle design, licensing and rehabilitation, vision and visual assessment, biomedical issues, and general issues. The current status of research in each of the categories is reviewed, and the most important avenues for future inquiry are outlined.